Beer Forum

Hey BN ARMY!!


I have brewed a Flanders Red, Belgian Specialty and a bunch of Berliner Weiss and feel I am ready to tackle my first Lambic. Here is my question: Do I really need to use aged hops? I'm drinking the Giradin Gueuze 1882 right now, I get bitterness in the flavor. Not a hop bitterness but a "pithy part of the grapefruit" bitterness. I don't get this at all in Gueuze Boon. The style guidelines mention the historical use of aged hops in lambic brewing for their preservative effect, and that IBUs are difficult to estimate, but are they really required for the home brewer? I have been brewing Berliner Wiess, which has done quite well, with no hops at all (and no boil.) My belief is the low pH as well as cold storage protect the beer from oxidation long term. Do you agree? Do you suppose this may be the case for lambic as well?

Thanks!

Yes, historically, aged hops are used in lambic production strictly for their preservative qualities. But you will be controlling the type of bacteria and wild yeast you are adding to your beer and not letting the air float organisms in while your wort cools. Since you have complete control over innoculation you also have complete control over what type of hops you use.

You can without doubt use any low alpha acid hop you may have on hand. Obviously try to use noble type hops (saaz, hallertau, tettnang, etc, or even derivatives thereof ie mt. hoot, vanguard, argentine cascade). Basically try to use the lowest alpha acid hop you can find. You probably even have some older noble hops lying around that may not even be sealed perfectly in your freezer. These are ideal for lambic brewing. You want to try to keep your hop IBU's to 8 or below. This helps the weak lactobacillus to get a head start in your wort before they slow down their reproduction due to increase acidity production and low pH.

About 5 years ago I went to my LHBS and asked if they had any old hops they didn't want to sell lying around. Lo and behold, my buddy had a 1# sealed pack of 4.2% AA Mt. hood pellets in ancient packaging. They must have been at least 8 years old but were in his fridge the whole time! I have been using about 1.5-2 oz in each of my lambics over the past few years with good results. They were not brown and did not smell cheesy when I opened the package.

Try contacting brew buddies and see if they have any older hops lying around (including your homebrew store). I feel like Morebeer was selling aged hops for lambics a while back so you could always check online. If you have no luck, then by all means just by the oldest lowest alpha acid hops you can find (no citrusy "c" hops for tradition) and you will be just fine. Good luck and hope this helps out!

Cheers-
Brewinhard